In the 1960s, the American Catholic Church, like the rest of the
nation, underwent a period of tremendous upheaval. Proceeding
from, though not limited to, the willful misinterpretation of the
Second Vatican Council by some in the clergy, thousands upon
thousands left the Church; older members who could not withstand
the confusion, and the younger ones who could not perceive an
enduring faith amid the calamitous changes.
But as has happened countless times in her long history, the
Church has, by the grace of God, seen good priests and bishops
arise to bring her back. Yet still today, far too many American
Catholics are like far too many other citizens of their country:
they have a vague notion of their history or of the tenets on
which they were founded, but not much more than that. Sadly, many
of them get serious about the faith a few times a year, much like
Americans who recall our founding principles only briefly on the
Fourth of July, if at all.
Faithful, practicing Catholics are already painfully aware that,
in addition to having to defend their faith to others, they must
also sometimes explain it to their fellow Catholics. And, just as
knowledge and respect for the U.S. Constitution and capitalism —
which were ingrained upon the American psyche for decades — have
faded into the past, so too it seems incomprehensible that
today’s Catholics need to be reminded that adultery, euthanasia,
and the murder of the unborn constitute grave sin.
Upon this scene comes Barack Obama, the first American president
to embrace abortion both personally and politically. Not only
does he support a “right” that seeks to cut short innocent life,
he has made the
case that such life might be the “punishment” for sexual
“mistakes.” This goes beyond what even some of the most strident
advocates of abortion have been willing to say in public, but
such is the sorry state of morality in our country.
Now given Barack Obama’s radical support of abortion — even to
the extent that he has voted that the lives of the survivors of
this heinous act should also be snuffed — you’d think that he
would be wary of alienating the great majority of practicing
American Catholics. Yet, spurred on by exit polling that suggests
he won the overall Catholic vote by a slim margin, he has managed
to elevate some of the most notoriously pro-abortion Catholics to
important posts in his administration.
He has even reportedly gone so far as to try and nominate such
nominal Catholics as Caroline Kennedy as ambassador to
the Vatican. These choices, of course, have been rejected.
Try this stinging rebuke from a Vatican source:
The Holy See has always set a very simple standard: the person
should not be in opposition to fundamental teachings of the
Church that belong to our common shared humanity. He or she may
not believe in Catholic dogma if he or she is not a Catholic,
but we could not accept someone who is in favor of abortion, or
(human) cloning or same-sex unions equated to marriage. That is
a fairly simple principle that governments like, say, Spain and
Cuba, or Mr. Clinton’s administration, have been able to
understand without a problem.
Unfortunately, Obama’s reward for all this is that he will be the
sixth president to speak at Notre Dame and the ninth to receive
an honorary degree from that formerly venerated institution. This
despite the fiat
from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that “…Catholic
institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our
fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards,
honors or platforms which would suggest support for their
actions.”
No doubt Notre Dame and its leadership think that they are being
courageous in honoring one who has so publicly spit in the eye of
Mother Church, but it’s hard to imagine why. In reality, true
courage lies in opposing popular opinion in defense of principle.
As Jesus explained:
If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but
because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you. (John 15:19)
And here is where we find that God does indeed continue to work
in mysterious ways. Notre Dame and Barack Obama have combined to
supply the Church with an opportunity to exercise one of its
fundamental missions; to provide the faithful with a true
teaching moment. Dozens of American bishops have issued
statements condemning the Obama invitation and other
indiscretions at Notre Dame, perhaps none more eloquently
than Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska:
Permit me to add my name as well to the long list of Bishops of
the Catholic Church who are utterly appalled at your dedication
to immorality and wrong-doing represented by your support for
the obscenity called “The Vagina Monologues” and your absolute
indifference to the murderous abortion program and beliefs of
this President of the United States…I can assure you of my
prayers for your conversion, and for the conversion of your
formerly Catholic University.
Harsh words indeed, but most welcome to the ears of faithful
Catholics everywhere. Let us hope that more and more of our
brethren will heed the voices of these brave bishops who
understand that one’s faith cannot be checked at the church door.
And let us all pray together with Pope Benedict XVI who said
in America last year:
Praying fervently for the coming of the Kingdom also
means…rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and political
life, since, as the Second Vatican Council put it, “there is no
human activity — even in secular affairs — which can be
withdrawn from God’s dominion.”
